The plan was outlined by Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner yesterday, a week after two of Stephen Lawrence’s killers were convicted.

Officers will be told to halve the number of Section 60 orders which are put in place. They allow police to designate a geographical area and stop and search anyone there. The tactic has been widely criticised as it is used disproportionately against black youths.

On Thursday, at the final meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority before it is replaced by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, Mr Hogan-Howe said he was “concerned” that use of the tactic was disproportionate.

He described the issue as “a real challenge” amid figures which show less than one stop in 10 leads to an arrest.

Later a Scotland Yard spokesman said: “The aim is to decrease the number of times senior officers grant authority for stop and searches. It could be that there are just as many stops but they’ll be more effective.”

The force outlined targets to halve the number of searches of individuals for drugs which fail to find anything. In addition, officers want to increase the rate of arrest from 6 per cent to 20 per cent.

Last year, there were 1,753 Section 60 orders, leading to 51,000 searches of individuals.

Mr Hogan-Howe has previously spoken about his dislike of the way stop and search is currently used. He has said he wants the force to be “smarter” in deploying the tactic.

The commissioner said last September that he wanted the powers used in conjunction with intelligence, primarily against known criminals and individuals suspected of carrying guns and knives.

He said: “The power to stop and search is a very important power to the police, but there are changes we can make to its use. We should in future target more people who have already previously been convicted.

“Rather than just generic stop and searches in the community, the community will tell us who carries knives and guns. There are people out there who are prepared to work with us.”

In a separate interview on the subject, the commissioner added: “Lots of people, particularly young people, get stopped who have got no reason to be stopped, they were not criminals, and that can cause a reaction.

“But if you have stopped someone who has been convicted of carrying a knife, they are the people who we should be stopping subsequently to see if they are still carrying a knife.”